Modern devices, such as smartphones, tablet computers, and desktop computers, are being designed with advanced computing capabilities. The processors embedded in these devices are thus being designed to process increasingly higher numbers of instructions per second. As the number of instructions per second increases, system usage also increases, which leads to an increase in memory usage. The memory in these devices thus becomes larger to accommodate the increase in memory usage. The larger memory can increase the overall power consumed by the device.
Some system components in a device, such as memory, may operate in various power consumption modes, such as active, standby, or off. In active mode, the memory is in a high power consumption mode. In standby mode, the memory is in a reduced power consumption mode. In off mode, the memory is powered off. Typically, the power consumption mode of the memory is globally controlled by the operation mode of the device as a whole. Thus, the operation mode of the device dictates the power consumption mode of the memory. The memory is placed in standby mode or off mode when the entire device is set to standby mode, hibernation mode, or off mode. Furthermore, memory typically operates in a single power consumption mode at a time, e.g., in either active mode, standby mode, or off mode. Inability to individually control portions of memory can thus degrade the performance of a device in terms of overall power consumed by the device.